Southampton frustrate Liverpool to earn point at St Mary's

19-11-2016

Follow Southampton vs Liverpool live on VAVEL UK, with kick-off at St Mary's set for 3PM UK time, in what should be an exciting fixture! Can the Reds stay top, or will the Saints inflict a first defeat in 13 on Liverpool?

Unfortunately, that's all we've got time for today! I've been Oliver Emmerson, taking you through Southampton's 0-0 draw with Liverpool. Until next time, good evening!

That's it, all over. Southampton with a good defensive performance to blunt the highest scoring team in the league. Liverpool did miss some good chances, most notably through Firmino in the second half, but you'd think they won't be too disheartened by the draw.

Full-time: Southampton 0-0 Liverpool

90: The Reds driving forward again as Mane wins a corner. Southampton clinging on here. It's Mane now who's coming off for Origi, four minutes of added time announced. Can a winner be found?

82: Liverpool throwing the kitchen sink here! Romeu blocks from Coutinho on the edge of the area before Firmino opens his body up to curl one, beaten away by Forster!

80: Sturridge almost with an instant impact! Great feet in the area, eventually crossing for Clyne, who bursts forward only to head agonisingly wide. Still no goals here!

78: Coutinho into the book for a foul on Redmond. Klopp with an attacking change, Can off for Sturridge. The German hasn't been brilliant today. Does Sturridge have time to make an impact? Southampton making their final change, Hojgjerg off for Harrison Reed.

76: Milner with a low ball in towards Firmino, van Dijk again across to put the ball out for a corner, which comes to nothing.

75: Second substitute for Southampton, Jay Rodriguez on for Charlie Austin, offering some more pace on the counter-attack. Surely Liverpool fans will be scratching their heads as to why one of Sturridge or Origi haven't been brought on yet?

66: Huge chance for Firmino! Great invention from Coutinho to turn in midfield and set up his teammate with an incisive pass, but the forward pokes the ball wide inside the area. Long on for Boufal for the home side.

64: Emre Can picks the ball up in the area with a chance to make it three goals in as many games for him, however the German couldn't get the ball on target with his weaker left foot.

58: Close! Biggest chance of the game so far for Southampton, Charlie Austin on the end of a beautiful Cedric Soares cross, but the striker nods it wide of Karius' goal!

57: Liverpool threaten with a couple of set-pieces angled in towards Matip, neither resulting in a goal though.

51: Fonte hurt himself chasing Coutinho and required a little treatment there, but is fit to continue.

49: Big chance, missed! Firmino capitalises on a mistake in midfield to thread Coutinho through, but the in-form attacker gets his shot wrong and hits it wide under pressure from Fonte.

47: Penalty appeal! Van Dijk gets away with a tug of the shirt as Firmino runs away from him in the area to chase a looping ball from Can. Lucky, lucky.

45: Back underway, here we go!

Liverpool are still top of the Premier League table, as it stands. They remain ahead of Manchester City, who lead 1-0 at Crystal Palace, by virtue of 'goals scored'. Still, Klopp won't be happy with that, and will demand that his players improve in the second half.

That's it for the first 45, Liverpool unable to find a way past Southampton so far, despite enjoying far more of the ball. Mane has come closest, forcing a fine save from Forster and being tackled by van Dijk when through, but that's about it as far as chances go. Little at the other end from the hosts.

Half-time: Southampton 0-0 Liverpool

45: Southampton nearly presented with a good chance as Matip intercepts excellently from a through ball aimed to Austin. Up at the other end, Wijnaldum blazes one over. One minute added on.

40: What a challenge! Mane is away through on goal after a brilliant touch, but Virgil van Dijk gets back and puts in a terrific tackle just as the winger is about to shoot. He's saved his side from going behind there, you'd think.

38: The Liverpool attacker is everwhere at the moment, Firmino thinks he's in behind the defence on the turn, only to turn and see the offside flag raised.

35: Firmino skips away from his marker and into some space, but is ultmately disappointed as he passes to Mane, only for the Senegalese to put in a poor cross.

33: Roberto Firmino showing why Klopp loves him so dearly, charging all the way back to his own half to win the ball with a perfectly timed tackle. Liverpool work the ball up the pitch for some time afterwards, Coutinho eventually sending a low shot wide from distance.

31: A slight moment of panic for the visitors as a couple of quick movements sees Southampton with a three-on-three attacking situation, but James Milner is in quickly to clear the danger.

28: Save! A goalkeeper is forced into action for the first time in the match, and it's Southampton's Forster, diving expertly to his left in order to keep Sadio Mane from scoring the opener at his old stomping ground.

23: Mark Clattenburg has a quick chat with James Milner after an ill-timed challenge on Redmond. Just prior, Gini Wijnaldum had shown some lovely invention to flick the ball over two heads in the area, but he couldn't get a shot away.

20: The Saints are growing into it a little here, causing Liverpool one or two problems of their own, especially through Boufal. We're still yet to see a shot on target, so one of those would be welcome.

17: "Dejan Lovren, he's top of the league" is the chant from the away end as Liverpool's travelling contingent look to give some back to the home fans in aid of their centre-back.

14: Southampton fans excited for a brief moment as Cedric Soares lines one up from distance, but it goes waaaaaaay wide.

13: All Liverpool on the ball so far, but they're yet to get in-behind a sturdy Southampton defence. Clyne with a cross in a dangerous area, but it's dealt with.

8: Dejan Lovren being booed every time he touches the ball here, by almost all the home fans. Mane getting a few, muttered boo's, none for Clyne seemingly.

3: A looping ball into the area falls to the feet of Bertrand, who has an effort blocked out of play by Matip. Liverpool deal with the corner comfortably.

0: Kick-off at St Mary's!

The final whistle has blown in the early game at Old Trafford, with Manchester United conceding a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Arsenal. The Gunners dropping points means that Liverpool come into this one still top of the table, but they will sacrifice their position if they fail to win and Manchester City win at Crystal Palace.

Coutinho being named in the starting 11 is a surprise, and a big bonus for Liverpool given his current form. Wijnaldum for Lallana was the obvious change, whilst Dejan Lovren also comes back into the side after missing out against Watford two weeks ago due to illness.

Dusan Tadic doesn't make it for Southampton due to a facial injury, so Boufal is given the opportunity in attacking midfield. Austin and Redmond will be hoping to expose a Liverpool defence which has kept just one clean sheet so far in the league this season.

Team news is in! A huge boost for Liverpool as Philippe Coutinho starts, despite being a huge doubt for the game.

Southampton's plans for the game have been hampered by an international break plagued by knocks and doubts, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Dusan Tadic both to be assessed late on ahead of the game. Fraser Forster and Ryan Bertrand are both doubtful too, having injured themselves away with England. Puel is expected to stick with a diamond formation, despite the loss to Hull City last time out, a game which the Frenchman says his side have learnt their lessons from.

Elsewhere for Liverpool, Philippe Coutinho is expected to drop to the bench after a fatiguing international break for Brazil, however his national teammate Roberto Firmino is expected to start after only playing 14 minutes in South America across two games. Daniel Sturridge is expected to come in for Coutinho, and carries a good record into the fixture, with four goals in his last four games against the South Coast side.

Indeed, Lallana might not get the chanting that's been aimed at him in the last couple of seasons, due to the fact that he's an injury doubt coming into the game, having been forced off for England against Spain last week with a groin problem. That means Georginio Wijnaldum is likely to come into the team, a change that will extend Klopp's run of not having picked two identical teams for successive games to 13 in the league.

There has of course been a slight rivalry developed between these two clubs over previous years, as Liverpool have purchased Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne and Sadio Mane from Southampton. The latter four all remain at the club, and are starters. They'll be expecting some stick today, or at least three of them...

It's clear where the strengths of these two lie. Southampton, despite being 13 points off today's visitors, have conceded two goals less than Jürgen Klopp's side in their first 11 games. However, Southampton have struggled for goals, scoring just 12 in 11. Liverpool are the league's top scorers with an incredible 30 goals from their first 11. They've shared that tally around too with 10 different scorers, showing a real team effort.

Whilst Liverpool can't climb the table unless Arsenal win, Southampton certainly can if they pick up points today. Currently in 10th after an inconsistent start to the season, Claude Puel's men could go as high as eighth if they can win all three points this afternoon.

Depending on the result between Manchester United and Arsenal in the day's early kick-off, Liverpool could start of the game top of the table. That's where they sit going into the Premier League weekend, a point ahead of Chelsea and two ahead of both Manchester City and the Gunners, in what's turning into an extremely interesting title race, although we're only in November. A win means that the Reds will definitely end the weekend on top.

Happy Saturday to one and all, and welcome to VAVEL UK's live minute-by-minute text commentary of today's Premier League clash between Southampton and Liverpool at St Mary's. I'm Oliver Emmerson and I'll be taking you through events on the South Coast, with kick-off set for 15:00 BST. Stick with me until then though, as build-up to the game continues, with confirmed team news expected to be announced around an hour before kick-off.